Princess transfers or Taxi from cruise ship to airport

[love_cruises]

We have a group of 10 people and we are planning on doing the princess transfer but we also have a early flight. So I didn't know if the princess transfer is going to sit there until its full and then leave and does that take a long time? Or would it be faster to find a few cabs and go to the airport that way?:confused:

[ARRTrain]

Shouldn't take too long to fill a bus. It will leave sorta full.

 

Which Port, Which Airport?

[paul929207]

With a group of ten, I would look for a car service or a shuttle. Even a taxi will likely save money.

[love_cruises]

Fort Lauderdale in Dec.

[luvs2travl]

Folks with the earliest flights will be in one of the very first groups off the ship. It is a relatively short distance from the pier to the airport. Are all 10 of you on the same flight?

 

You won't be the only ones on board with morning flights, so the the Princess transfer shuttle should fill up rather quickly. The one hold up with the shuttle would be getting all of your luggage loaded on & off. A taxi might be a better fit, or perhaps all of you arranging for a car service or limo if your flight is before 10:30 AM or so. Also - remember, yours won't be the only ship in port that and lots of folks will be wanting to get to the airport ASAP. And you also said "December" - are you close to Christmas or New Years? If so, the FLL airport will be a zoo! Been there - seen that!

 

A cab from the pier to the airport is around $15.00. How many cabs will you need for 10 people + luggage vs cost of hiring a car or a limo and all of you splitting the cost?

[cwtravel]

Taxi's are cheaper, faster and easier to get from the port in Ft. Lauderdale to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. It is about 15 minutes from the pier to the airport, roughly $15 for the trip (not per person). If you are flying out of Miami the ship transfers are worth looking into unless you have an early flight.

 

Chris

[mtaylor04]

Don't do it, is the best advice I can give you. Taxi's are plentiful outside of FLL and are not that expensive.

 

There have been numerous reports of sitting and waiting more than an hour (or more) for the bus to fill up before you can get to the airport.

[BobT172]

The quickest way will be to walk off early carrying your own luggage...you would then be among the first off.

 

Take a taxi....well worth it to avoid waiting for a bus to fill up.

[san diego sue]

If you take the ships transportation, you won't be waiting in the taxi line. also do you know how many ships will be in port that day. We once had 16 ships.

I wouldn't chance the taxi line in that case. Princess asks for your flight info and puts you on a bus and departure time based on that. they also group you by airlines. Buses fill up fast.

[Pam in CA]

When I've had an 11:20am flight out of FLL in December, I've used the Princess transfer. It filled quickly and we were on our way within five minutes. I've done that several times. With a group of 10, you'll fill the bus that much faster. I remember one year when I was incredibly thankful to have the Princess transfer: we got outside and the crowds waiting for taxis were huge, with people pushing, shoving, waving money at porters, and practically frantic to get the very few cabs. It was an awful sight; what a terrible way to end a cruise.

 

There are times when I would say to take a cab but for ease and convenience, particularly in December, I'd say take the transfer. Sometimes being cheap isn't necessarily better v

[Aussie Gal]

Pam,

 

Perhaps you can help us as we are not experienced in disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale having only done it once and our flight wasn't until 4pm.

 

This time we will be disembarking the Royal Princess in April in Ft. Lauderdale. As far as I can see we are the only ship in port and there will be at the most 680 passengers on board who will be getting off.

 

Our flight departs at 11.30am, should we take a taxi which we normally do or should we take the transfer?

 

Jennie

[Langley Cruisers]

Our flight departs at 11.30am, should we take a taxi which we normally do or should we take the transfer?

 

How much is the transfer? As stated, a cab for 4 people plus luggage should cost less than $20.00. That's $5.00 per person. We`ve done that twice in the past year. Can you get a transfer for less than that? I wouldn't think so. If I was in a group and was asked to pay 3 times or more that amount, I'd be kind of choked. :p Just saying.

[Pam in CA]

Pam,

 

Perhaps you can help us as we are not experienced in disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale having only done it once and our flight wasn't until 4pm.

 

This time we will be disembarking the Royal Princess in April in Ft. Lauderdale. As far as I can see we are the only ship in port and there will be at the most 680 passengers on board who will be getting off.

 

Our flight departs at 11.30am, should we take a taxi which we normally do or should we take the transfer?

 

Jennie

Taxi. :) I was recommending the transfers to the OP because they are disembarking in December, which is crazy busy then with not only cruisers but those vacationing in southern FL as well. There are usually a lot of very large ships arriving in port at about the same time and there's a fight for cabs.

[Aussie Gal]

Pam,

 

Thanks for that. As I stated, we usually take a taxi but I wasn't sure of the distance to the airport and if there would be enough cabs waiting around. Last time, we took a ships tour of Ft. Lauderdale as we had so long to wait, but this time our flight leaves around 11.15am.

 

I will make sure we are one of the first called so that we will be well and truly off early.

 

Jennie

[Northender]

I agree with the posters who say take a cab. What time is your flight?

Perhaps you could use EZ check also depending on your airline:)

[caribill]

Perhaps you could use EZ check also depending on your airline:)

 

Flight cannot depart FLL earlier than 11:30 AM to be able to use EZCheck there.

[Sailingpeace]

Only got off once in Fort Lauderdale. There were many many many taxis right outside the gate. But just be careful, a man came up to us and offered to get a shared ride in his van. He said it was the same price as the cab my husband and I would have taken to the airport, except that it was the same amount , yes, but for each one of us so the total was the double it would have cost us taking the regular cab ! We only found out about the ... once at the airport and the driver was not smiling much. We didn't argue long and ended up paying the double amount.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We generally are catching an 11:30 flight and a taxi works fine on multiple levels, even when returning from a Christmas cruise. It is cheaper than Princess transfers for the two of us, you avoid the traffic and mayhem that sometimes surround catching the transfer bus at some Fort Lauderdale piers, you don't have to find your bags in the pile unloaded from the bus at the airport curb, and you may very possibly avoid the bus loads of people hitting airport security at the same time.

[Aussie Gal]

Thanks everyone for your good advice. We will catch a taxi and will make sure we are off the ship early.

 

Jennie